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Phylogeny of Cacao Wild Relatives Published
A phylogeny of nearly all species in the tribe Theobromateae has been published in a multi-national collaboration between 13 institutes. This provides a framework for understanding evolutionary processes amongst cacao's wild relatives.
The production of a phylogenetic tree allows inference of evolutionary processes that led to the range of extant diversity available to us today. Understanidng relationships between crop species and their wild relatives may allow us to use this information to improve both quality and quantity yields. Our study, led by post-doctoral researcher Ana Bossa, produced a phylogeny of nearly all species of the tribe Theobromateae from the genera Theobroma, Herrania, Guazuma and Glossostemon. We show that Herrania is phylogenetically nested within Theobroma necessitating the expansion of the concept of the latter geneus. THe paper also highlights the evolution of agronomically important traits in the tribe and how this might be used to improve our understanding of drought tolerance and pollination in the group. The paper was published in the Journal of Systematics and Evolution.